Otherworldly Merchant

“Don’t rush. Let’s see what they want to do.” I comforted Zhang Henshui then hid in the woods nearby. When I was certain that they didn’t notice us, we started to follow them. 

In the end, the couple stopped in front of a stone slab. The two of them got on their knees and respectfully read something. I even heard the man say something about taking revenge through his gritted teeth. 

Behind the slab was a mound-like structure with half a brick circle in the front. It looked like a grave. I thought that their ancestor was buried here.

After the two left, I ran to the grave to see. I was stunned to see the words on the stone slab. It read, “The Grave of the Three-Clan Senior Official of Chu.” 

The Three-Clan Senior Official of Chu is the title of the famous poet, Qu Yuan, isn’t it?  

So, this tomb is where Qu Yuan is buried? 

Qu Yuan was a famous poet who lived during the Warring States period. He was the author of the most well-known Li Sao. The stories said that Qu Yuan had a great strategic mind. He offered King Huai of Chu a lot of bright ideas that would benefit the state and its people. However, King Huai of Chu was stupid enough to reject the ideas. He even sent Qu Yuan into exile. Bearing a grudge, Qu Yuan hugged a rock and jumped into the Miluo River to end his life. 

The people mourned his death and cried by the river. They used their dragon boats to search for his body in the river. To protect his body, they threw a lot of leaf-wrapped, glutinous rice cakes into the river as offerings to beg the fish not to eat his remains. It was also the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival. Every year, the Chinese would eat rice dumplings and have dragon boats race to commemorate Qu Yuan, the soul of the nation. 

After connecting the story of Qu Yuan hugging the rock and jumping into the river, I now confirmed that Zhang Henshui was pestered by Qu Yuan’s spirit! 

Qu Yuan was the only one who had chosen to finish his life this way. 

However, Qu Yuan was famous for his patriotism and loyalty to the King. He was also an ambitious poet with integrity. Why would he trouble Zhang Henshui? 

Furthermore, the man and the woman were probably Qu Yuan’s descendants. Why did they want to harm Zhang Henshui? Everything was a puzzle to me. I contemplated and had a feeling that I could find the key to this puzzle from Zhang Henshui. 

When we had returned to his house, I asked him about his family. Indeed, I found something abnormal! 

The males in his family all died of strange causes. None of them lived to be fifty years old. It had started from his great grandfather, who drowned in the basin he used to wash his face. Zhang Henshui’s grandfather drowned in a flood, and Zhang Henshui’s father died by eating toxic mushrooms by the riverbank. 

Zhang Henshui was now the only male member in the family. He got married and had a daughter. Nothing strange had happened before this… 

After listening to the story, I understood that Qu Yuan and Zhang Henshui’s family must be archenemies. That was why the honest Zhang Henshui was being pestered. 

However, I still hadn’t figured out why Qu Yuan wanted to harm him. Li Mazi rubbed his chin. He thought about it, then asked, “Should we try waiting for him to come to us?” 

“We can try.” I nodded in agreement. 

However, passively waiting wasn’t as good as revealing a flaw to entice the other party. At least, we would have the upper hand by doing so. 

With that plan, the next morning, Zhang Henshui called the three workers he had hired and told them that the wall of his toilet room was cracked. He wanted them to come and fix it. 

In the afternoon, the three migrant workers came again. The man that wanted to kill Zhang Henshui worked enthusiastically. Looking at his honest face, I would have been stunned if I hadn’t known the circumstances. 

To give him more chances to do his evil deed, I asked Zhang Henshui to stay in his room while I hid on the roof to observe. 

The worker always behaved well. He didn’t do anything strange. After they fixed the toilet and were about to leave, he gave Zhang Henshui a cold glance. 

His glance told me that he was confident that Zhang Henshui would die. However, I couldn’t see where the problem was. 

When nightfall came, I distinctly felt a strange atmosphere from the courtyard. I became more anxious. I took out the Universal Bracelet from my bag and asked Zhang Henshui to put it on his wrist. 

The Universal Bracelet was made of a red rope that chained forty-nine Five Emperor coins. There was no question about the power of the Five Emperor coins. The red string was from a rope that tied joss sticks in a big pagoda and was soaked in black dog blood for three days. Together, the coins and the string formed a sharp weapon. 

Since that migrant worker left with confidence, Zhang Henshui must be in grave danger. At least the Universal Bracelet could save his life. 

Since we didn’t know what kind of trick the other party would perform, we had to wait in the house. When the sky turned dark, the temperature of the room dropped sharply. I felt like I was in a fridge. 

Li Mazi and Zhang Henshui shivered in the cold. Their teeth clattered. I rubbed my hands together to feel warmer, then peered through the slit of the door. The courtyard outside was hazy white. It seemed we were shrouded in a thick fog. I hadn’t expected the Yin energy to be this thick. For the time being, I felt flustered. 

Suddenly, I heard a noise outside. It sounded like someone was crying, but sometimes, it was like someone was laughing crazily. The noise was both distinctive and distant, which gave people a strange feeling. 

It seemed that whatever the migrant worker had done this morning started to work. However, I still hadn’t figured out what he had done, even though I had been on the roof and kept my eyes on him the entire time. 

Soon, I solved the problem! 

Zhang Henshui had prepared all the materials to fix his toilet room, but the workers brought in the paint! That man must have put something in the paint. 

I became concerned. However, it was no use to be worried now. At the same time, I contemplated that Qu Yuan alone wouldn’t be able to create such a scene. I thought they had used some sort of magic illusion, too. 

Fortunately, after the trip to Japan, I had learned from experience. I knew how powerful magic illusions could be. I had started to keep huo xiang perfume, also known as Korean mint perfume, with me. 

People knew that huo xiang in boiled water could relieve fever and refresh the spirit. The huo xiang perfume was the essence of the flower mixed with ashes from joss sticks and the urine from a little boy. With these ingredients, it was a useful tool to deal with magic illusions! 

I smeared a drop of perfume on my forehead. I could feel the liquid seep into my skin and soon, my body heated up. I didn’t feel cold anymore. When I lifted my head to check the yard again, the thick fog was gone. I then gave Li Mazi and Zhang Henshui a drop of the special perfume too. Afterward, I folded a paper crane. 

Although I had temporarily broken the magic illusion, it was just a temporary measure. To track him down, I had to use the paper crane. After writing Zhang Henshui’s birthday on it and feeding it a few drops of blood, I read the spell. The paper crane slowly flew up. 

I had expected that the other party would be right out there and that the paper crane would return to me soon. However, I got nothing even after a long time. The paper crane hadn’t come back. Li Mazi knew what I was doing and asked anxiously, “Little Brother Zhang, do you know if he is here or not?” 

I shook my head. “I can’t say anything.” 

Right at this moment, a bird screech echoed in my head. It meant the other party had found my paper crane. 

I didn’t dare to linger. With the Sirius Whip in my hand, I dashed in the direction of the bird’s screech. When I reached the village entrance, where the lush locust tree grew, I saw the migrant worker. 

He didn’t look surprised to see us. It meant he had known about me and Li Mazi beforehand. He sneered and assessed us. His facial features twisted together. 

I took a step forward and shouted, “Why have you tried to take Zhang Henshui’s life?” 

“None of Zhang Yi’s descendants should stay alive. They all have to die. Hahaha…” The man laughed crazily then ran away. 

I was surprised and tried to search for information about the name Zhang Yi in my head.